Hi ((( Blaire))). I thought I was the only one who did that! "Wow I'm stressed, I know ... let's make more stress!" If I found myself in a sinking canoe I'd probably start putting more water into it because "what the heck! It's not going to get better and it's just expected anyway." I swear enough stress turns me into some kind of overcompensating masochist.

I'm not bipolar (afaik) but I do have some totally silly compensating mechanisms. I call it "squirrelthink" ... oh noes, a car! Run over here ... agghhh a human walking a big dog, let's run over there ... oh no, another car!!